What was suppose to be an enjoyable week of late warm summer weather with highs in the 90s instead turned into a smokey and fiery hell leaving communities devastated along with a number of popular recreational sites, terrible air quality, and highs nearly twenty degrees cooler than what was originally forecasted due to thick smoke.

If you are looking for relief from the smoke it is still coming, very very slowly…… Our clearing out process will pick up a little on Sunday, at least up high. Down here in the valley we are essentially stuck in an inversion pattern still keeping the smokey air trapped near the surface until probably Tue when showers and rain finally move in. Of course with all the smoke and ash particles floating around in the sky this has the potential to be some of the grossest rain that has ever fallen here in western Oregon, so don’t go singing in the rain when it does arrive, at least not at first.

The rain will take its sweet time moving inland next week. The maps below show forecasted precipitation totals through Tuesday night and give a decent idea of what parts of the state will see rain first. In general places northwest of Portland, Salem, and down to Florence will receive decent rainfall Mon night and Tue while locations like Sweet home, Springfield, and much of the Santiam Canyon will sadly stay mostly dry with just a few sprinkles and isolated light showers until Thu. Of course if this storm comes onshore even a little bit further than expected then we would be looking at showers over those areas on Tuesday as well. Something we can be praying for.

Those maps depict pretty clearly a sharp drop off in precip/rainfall as one moves southeast. Fortunately by Thu afternoon and Fri all locations west of the Cascades will be seeing rain as showers become widespread across the region. Showers continue on Saturday and possibly even through next Sunday.

I don’t have the latest numbers or maps on where the wildfires are burning or what locations are in need of evacuating. I’m learning that stuff as quickly as you all are and it is changing fast. What I can tell you is the winds should die down Thursday and even reverse direction a bit which will not only help clear some of this smoke and ash out (although it will take quite some time), but it will also help reduce and slow the spread of the fires.

The best news I can give you, besides the change in the winds, is that rain is finally expected to arrive Monday evening. In fact next Mon – Wed looks wet which should help put an end to any more significant fire threats. Of course Mon feels so far away right now, but it is better than not having any rain in sight. This map gives you an idea of how much rainfall we could be looking at next week. Lots of blue coloring over western Oregon indicating a solid half inch of rain or more. Good news for fighting the fires, and it sure as heck can’t come soon enough…

I hope you all are staying safe and staying alert. There are what feels like an infinite number of sources to keep you up to date, so make sure you have one that is specifically for your local area to help minimize confusion.

It’s hot out there, especially for September, and now we are about to add to the mix some strong winds which is really bad news for the wildfires currently burning here in Oregon. Winds pick up later this afternoon and will continue through Wednesday evening before finally dying down.

Here in Salem you can expect gusts around 25 to 35mph, maybe an occasional gust closer to 40. If you’re headed into the Cascades, the Coast Range, the gorge, or to the Portland area – so pretty much everywhere else in Oregon lol, then you could be looking at gusts over 50mph!

In case you missed the memo, this will be a warm wind and not the “cool you off” type of breeze we so often get. The next 7 days will be hot and well above average with a shot at going above 90 almost every single day this week and still no sign of rain. Enjoy the warm weather and pray for no new fires.